Negotiations have barely started and already, the public attacks on postal workers’ pensions have begun. This week, the National Post ran an op-ed attacking postal workers’ pensions. Terrence Corcoran goes beyond all sane limits, not only painting a biased picture of the pension plan, but in fact blaming postal workers for “concocting” Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s glaring conflict of interest.

Justin Trudeau certainly did not run on a military-strength platform. Nowhere on the campaign trail did Liberals talk about increasing military spending or using “hard power” abroad. The recent speech of Chrystia Freeland, alongside the announced 70% increase in military spending should ring alarm bells.

It's been a wild ride for the Canadian Union of Postal Workers over the past couple of years. After we mobilized with the public to beat back the Harper Conservatives' planned demolition of door-to-door delivery, our union then faced a tough round of negotiations with the Conservative-appointed managers of Canada Post. At the same time, the newly-elected Liberals began a review of the post office that complicated matters enormously by holding public consultations on the future of the post office at the same time we faced a highly publicized lockout designed to keep everybody's minds on a manufactured crisis and a fabricated 'need' for cuts.

The year is 2036 and you’re reading this because right now, you’re thinking about what it means to call yourself a postal worker. You’re wondering if it’s really worth it to put your body and your future on the line. That’s what your union is asking you to do.

Huge turnouts at strike votes: we’re ready to take on the boss! I’m in Vancouver doing workfloor meetings and strike vote meetings, having just returned from a week in Calgary, where great numbers of postal workers turned out to vote against management’s rollbacks. I’m hearing similar reports of massive participation in our strike votes from across the country. Go CUPW go!

Canada Post is not only refusing to address our demands, but gunning for some of our most important job protections and benefits. This is why every member of CUPW needs to get out and vote YES to a strike.